Money laundering case: CBI arrests Karti Chidambaram in Chennai

Chennai: The Central Bureau of Investigation, on Wednesday morning, arrested son of former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, Karti Chidambaram.

He was arrested in connection with the alleged irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance in the INX Media case.

The CBI official said that he was arrested from the Chennai airport after he returned from London. He will be brought to Delhi later in the day.

It may be mentioned that, on May 15, 2017, the CBI had registered an FIR against Karti Chidambaram on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, accepting gratification by corrupt or illegal means, influencing public servants and criminal misconduct.

Karti Chidambaram allegedly received Rs 3.5 crore from the Mumbai-based INX media, now 9X Media, for helping it get Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance, when it was run by Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, both accused in the Sheena Bora murder case.

The FIR does not mention Chidambaram senior, though it said he cleared the FIPB approval for Rs 4.62 crore Foreign Direct Investment in the firm at an FIPB meeting on May 18, 2007.

The agency is investigating the junior Chidambaram's role in facilitating the FIPB clearance for INX Media when his father was the Finance Minister.

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The Congress today said Karti's arrest is a classic diversionary tacticof the Modi government.

"Classic diversionary tactic of the Modi government to hide their own corrupt governance model that is being exposed on a daily basis be it Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, Dwarka Das Seth Jewellers. The BJP govt continues it's vendetta and vindictive politics to target opponents. however, it will not stop the Congress from bringing the truth out to the people," said the Congress.